'What? We are going out to look at cars on the road near traffic lights?' a bemused Year 6 asked Miss Monya. But there was more to it than that. 

As part of their geography fieldwork, the Year 6 children are looking at pollution in their local area and coming up with ideas to reduce this. The children have learnt how Greenhouse gases are formed and how these can be reduced. Observing the amount of cars idling was part of the trip, but they had the opportunity to see how town planning works and to observe the solutions the building company has created to reduce Greenhouse gas. Beautiful flowers, new sapling trees and water fountains galore can be seen at Twelve Trees opposite West Ham tube station. It is well worth a look.

In Art, year 5 have been learning about Paul Cezanne and were lucky enough to visit the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House to see some of his paintings. The children had a guided tour around the gallery and were able to appreciate works by other artists, including Van Gogh and Monet.

Children  were taught different techniques to create their own sketches of the arts of work there, and shared their knowledge of primary and secondary colours. The children also had an opportunity to experiment with colour techniques when recreating their sketches with paints.

Despite the clouds and rain, Year 5 took the opportunity to visit The Artist’s Garden on the roof of Temple tube station to explore the sculptures there and to take in the view out across the River Thames.

Counters, cubes and clocks are just some of the resources that children use to support their maths skills. Throughout this week, parents were able to see how children at the school develop their mathematical knowledge and join in with some of the activities.

Children put their best foot forward to kick start the Anti-Bullying term. Wearing odd socks showed everyone we are all unique and this is something that should be celebrated. Throughout this term, the children will be learning about using their voice and power for good.

Key Stage 1 enjoyed a truly majestic Royal Day on Wednesday! The children arrived dressed as kings, queens, princes, princesses and knights, bringing the school to life with crowns, capes and plenty of royal sparkle.

As part of their learning about Kings and Queens, the children explored famous monarchs from history. A special highlight of the day was meeting ‘Queen Asantewaa’ of Ghana, wonderfully portrayed by one of our own queens. The children were captivated as they learned about her bravery, leadership and importance in Ghanaian history.

At lunchtime, the hall was transformed into a royal banquet, where our young kings and queens enjoyed a feast fit for royalty. It was a fantastic celebration and a memorable way to bring history to life!

In the half term holidays there was a devastating hurricane that hit Jamaica. Hurricane Melissa  devastated part of the island, flooding schools so they were left without resources. Cynthia, one of our cooks, asked for help. Without much persuasion, the members of the School council rallied - asking for contributions from our community of pens, pencils, books - any type of stationery.  There was a quick turnover because the van taking the donations was to leave a week later. 

As usual, Ranelagh was able to send in lots of items - as you can see by the photograph.